A botched martial law operation that lasted just six hours is continuing to cause chaos in South Korea, with confusion over who is actually in charge of Asia's fourth-largest economy.
While life in South Korea was largely undisturbed on Monday, behind the scenes, a cloud of doubt hung over many things, from governance to trade to diplomacy to markets. and budget.
The benchmark Kospi index closed down 2.8% and the smaller Kosdaq index fell more than 5%. The South Korean won fell nearly 1% against the dollar, hovering at levels last seen on Tuesday night when President Yun Seok-yeol announced martial law.
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Meanwhile, key ministers, including the interior and defense ministers, have resigned and many agencies are in crisis control mode.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said on Monday that the political crisis could cause irreversible damage to one of the world's largest suppliers of memory chips.
He said that in order to maintain the country's semiconductor and export competitiveness, normal diplomacy must be supported.
“Diplomacy is in a state of complete paralysis,” he told reporters. “If President Yoon does not resign immediately, it will cause irreparable damage to the exchange rate, the stock market and the national competitiveness of the Republic of Korea.”
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol warned that South Korea must make unremitting efforts to restore the trust of its partners and once again meet the expectations of the international community.
“While this may take time, we must be firm and serious in our diplomatic efforts to rebuild trust,” he said.
Who is responsible?
The biggest question facing the country right now is: Who governs South Korea?
On Saturday, Yoon returned to Korean television to issue a brief apology. He said the decision to impose martial law was “out of desperation” and continued to dismiss rumors that he would seek to impose martial law again.
“Let me be clear: There will never be a second martial law,” Yin said.
Soon after, the president survived the first impeachment vote as members of the People's Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote.
Later, local news agency Yonhap reported on Sunday that Yoon was under criminal investigation on suspicion of treason. Later People's Party leader Han Dong-hoon said the president would be excluded from handling foreign affairs and other state affairs, and said Prime Minister Han Deok-soo would manage government affairs.
The proposal drew criticism from the opposition, which said it was unconstitutional because Yin would have to be impeached or resign and face legal prosecution.
Opposition parties reportedly said they would continue to submit impeachment motions every week until Yoon Eun-hye resigns or is dismissed. Report from the Financial Times. Yoon has rejected calls to resign, including some from within his own ruling party.
Meanwhile, on Monday, officials said Yin was also barred from leaving the country, while also saying he remained the legitimate commander-in-chief.
This has led to the current governance situation in South Korea being completely chaotic.
“We are facing a situation where the president cannot make decisions, cannot give guidelines, cannot issue orders,” said Kang Won-taek, a political science professor at Seoul National University. tell the new york times.
“Even though we have a president, we still have anarchy.”
Trump’s uncertainty
The political upheaval comes at a particularly critical time for South Korea as it grapples with an uncertain future with its ally the United States.
Former Trade Secretary Yang Han-koo, who worked with the Trump and Biden administrations, said he is concerned about a power vacuum in South Korea at a time when the presidential office and the administration should work with industry to prepare a response to President-elect Donald Trump's plan will directly affect South Korea relies on exports for its economy and businesses, including chipmakers and battery makers.
“Given the tariff disruptions expected by the Trump administration, strong government leadership and bold policy action will be needed,” he said. “But South Korea is in chaos.”
Yang said South Korea also faced political turmoil in 2016 and 2017 when Trump was first elected and then-President Park Geun-hye was impeached and ousted amid a corruption scandal, but the current chaos is even worse.
“Uncertainty is a huge distraction,” he said.
- Reuters, with additional editing and input by Vishakha Saxena
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